Merry Little Christmas Night
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day sixty-five: Emma recalls two special Christmases between her and Will.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third cycle Now here comes cycle 4! :D_

_MERRY CHRISTMAS! :D_

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**"Merry Little Christmas Night"  
Will/Emma**

Nothing could ever beat a good Christmas memory, and in the long run there were two of them in particular which would forever stay with them. The first of those was their first Christmas, after they'd met.

Emma had been at McKinley for a few months, but she was still the new girl. She wasn't sure what to expect from the faculty Christmas party. She only knew most of them in passing, and most of them she was fairly certain she was fine keeping that way.

There was exception to this… one exception, one kind-hearted, smiling, weakening of the knees… married… exception. As much as she knew that, yes, he was married – she'd never met the woman – but they had become friends. Somehow that had masked the fact that, although when they came into the school they were in their own world, eventually he went home to his wife and she went home to… no one.

When she'd arrived at the party, she'd made a path that would keep her away from Ken Tanaka. It hadn't taken long for her to realize he liked her… but her heart was elsewhere.

She'd stopped along that buffet table to take a look at what was available… none of it inspired confidence.

"They've outdone themselves this year." She looked back over her shoulder at the sound of Will's voice. He was smiling. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," she smiled back. "It's not for another week," she reminded him. He shrugged, still smiling.

"It's as good as the twenty-fifth in here," he promised her, looking around for only a moment before he turned back toward her. "Well, it's Christmas-like," he winced, and she laughed. When she realized he was alone, the words were spoken before she heard them coming.

"Where's your wife?" she blinked, not sure whether to look at him. He shrugged.

"Oh, she was too tired," he explained.

"Oh…" she nodded sympathetically.

"Yeah. But it's alright though," he looked at her and she knew he meant 'because I've got you there…' at least she hoped it, on the inside.

After a moment of looking longingly at the buffet table, wishing there was something she could get herself to touch, she looked back to Will. He was looking to the 'dance floor,' where a number of the teachers – sometimes with a spouse, sometimes with a colleague – were making as good a show of dancing as was to be expected.

She looked to herself, to Will, the dance floor… Her heart was pounding at the thought of doing what she wanted to do. She was not so skilled with courage, especially with Will Schuester. She swallowed her fear in the spirit of Christmas, moving ahead of him, looking back to nod toward the dance floor. He chuckled and followed.

Like any self-respecting romantic memory, the moment they'd come to be standing face to face, the music had slowed and the couples had moved closer. For a second, she panicked, waiting for him to back out on her. But then… he took her hand – she gasped – and came up to dance with her. Once their gazes were on opposite ends, her cheeks had rosied up in an instant. She'd only ever dreamed that he'd be this close to her. He smelled so good…

When the song ended, she didn't realize it at first, not until Will spoke. "Want to go again?" her eyes opened, and she looked up at him. Oh, how she wanted to… Her head was spinning, but she didn't want him to let go of her.

"I think… I need something to drink," she finally spoke, knowing the best thing was to be the one to be doing the letting go. Will had gone with her to get that drink. They'd ended up sitting and talking the rest of the evening.

The second Christmas she held with importance had been fairly uneventful, again a few days before the actual holiday. The student body had grown more accustomed to her and, with that, more prone to toy with her.

She'd arrived at her office to find someone – and she had a shortlist of potential culprits – had hung mistletoe over her door frame. The very idea of the mess she could be drawn into, the germs… she'd stayed frozen before the door for a couple minutes, as though it was warding her off, before she'd snapped into action.

Dashing into her office, she'd put on her plastic gloves, grabbed her trashcan, tweezers, and her office chair before moving to the door frame. She paused as she had to take off her shoes, but then finally got on to the chair.

Her legs shook as she extended up toward the mistletoe. Part of her wanted to shut her eyes, but the other part remembered that could only lead to a tumble to the floor. She breathed out once her fingers touched the top of the door frame.

She didn't move her head, just her eyes, so she could spot the trash can below. In doing so, she saw Will coming down the hall. She nearly lost her footing, and at the same time lost her shakiness. She looked back to the mistletoe and plucked it off the door frame, dropping it into the trash can… she hoped.

Closer… he was getting closer, coming toward her office. "Oh no, oh no…" she mumbled to herself, once again locked in a reduced fear of heights. Knees buckling, she worked her way down, hands moving little by little down the door frame until she was able to step off the chair. She hurried to get her chair and trashcan in place.

"Morning, Emma." She turned back as Will came in. She tried to act normal… that only worked until he noticed… "Hey, why are you…" he indicated her shoes on the floor.

"I-I, uh… my… feet were itchy," she looked down, hesitating whether to reach for her shoes. That was how she saw the small red and green gift bag in his hand. "What's that?" she pointed. When he looked to the bag, she scurried for her shoes. She didn't have time to put them back on, so she held on to them.

"Okay, it's… I thought about how you said you wanted a new plant for your office, it's not much, I just… Merry Christmas," he held out the bag to her. She smiled, heart thumping.

"Yeah, I did want… uh…" she moved to reach for the bag, still holding her shoes. It ended up in a swap, with Will taking her shoes so she could take the bag. She pulled the plant out of the bag and smiled. "It's perfect," she turned to place it on her desk, lining it up. She looked back to Will with a shy smile when she realized… "I still have my shoes off…" He smirked and handed them off to her. Once she had them back on, she looked back at him. "Oh, I don't have… yours… I forgot it, i-it's on the table next to…" she gestured, dropped her hands. "I'm sorry," she laughed.

"Hey, Christmas isn't for a few more days, you've got time."

"Yeah," she nodded. After a moment…

"Are you going to tell me why you had your shoes…"

"No," she shook her head, making him laugh.

The first memory was special for their first Christmas, first dance. The second memory was special for the fact that it would be the last one they spent apart.

THE END


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